family

dear Totsy…

Dear Totsy,

You really shouldn’t make it so hard for Grandmothers to spoil their granddaughters with the adorable things that you sell online…

Case in point. Grandma L bought little Baby M some super special sunscreen back in the summer for her uber sensitive skin. And since it was the summer, she paid extra for express shipping to get it here as quick as possible. Sadly, that little bottle of sunscreen arrived as summer bid us adieu… and about 5 weeks after it was ordered online.

Most recently, Grandma M tried to order this on September 12th (HER OWN BIRTHDAY no less!):

 

…. and they never arrived. So she sent you an email. And then she sent you another email. And then she called you and left a message. And you never ever responded.

She sent yet another email this past Tuesday (10/26), telling you that she did all of these things with no response, and asking very simply as to the whereabouts of her order. Your response was interesting to say the least. “The TUSHIE HUGGERS product has literally just arrived at our warehouse.  It was delayed as it came from Canada and had to undergo inspections at Customs.  It is now going to undergo quality and quantity inspections and will ship out towards the end of the week.

It just arrived. Just now. But you sold it to people 6 weeks ago, and I’m sure each and every one of them didn’t expect a normal delay in customs from Canada, so they’re all wondering where in the heck their orders were? The least you could do would be to preemptive “shipping delay” notice. The best you could do, is stop practicing this horrible business of purchasing items AFTER you’ve sold them… so that customers get what they order on time.

In the world of babies and kids and pregnant ladies… people and kids grow up fast. Had I ordered a 12 month outfit for Baby M, I’m sure a 6 week delay would put her up another size. And when you buy something, you usually expect it within 2 weeks, and 3 weeks at the latest. We can all patiently deal with that. But your current shipping time table is just silly, and just plain rude to your customers.

This just goes to show you that not all membership sample sale websites are alike. I told Grandma L to take her baby sale shopping elsewhere, perhaps to the other sample sale sites that I know to be reliable and quick with their service, like Gilt and Ruelala.

And who loses out? Babies and tech-savvy Grandmas. :(

10 Comments

  • Lindsey

    that really sucks.
    I believe that zulily isn’t much better, my sister has ordered dresses twice from them and it took a month for them to come. i ordered from bTrendie, which recently dissolved without any warning, and joined totsy and they took my credit too.

    I just ordered from ruelala and it already shipped!

    better luck next time.

  • EP

    That’s just terrible customer service!! I just ordered a rug last night from Totsy…let’s hope I get it before Lily’s no longer in her room! :)

  • Vir

    Ugh I’m so sorry! Really just awful. I think zulily has a similar practice in terms of the order of events, but it’s clearly presented on the customer account page. I did wait quite a while for a recent zulily order, but definitely not 6 weeks and when I emailed they responded within a few hours each time. I wouldn’t shop there for anything I needed in a hurry but their customer service won enough points that I’d be a repeat customer. But what you’ve been through with totsy — sad to say I am now deterred from ever making a purchase there!

  • Kaci

    That is horrible! Well, posting on your blog is def. the start to getting better practices! I don’t understand why they don’t have the stuff in their warehouse when they list it??
    I always watch the strollers on there but that may be a bad idea now that I hear this!
    Thanks for the heads up Kim!

  • Erika

    Yes I ordered Halloween costumes from there and they took about 4 weeks – luckily before halloween…Gilt is awesome. When I lived in NY it came the next day…

  • Teale

    Wow, how unprofessional! I’ve only used Ruelala once, but found their shipping to be super fast (although kind of expensive… $10 to ship a $20 pair of shoes, but even at $30 it was a deal for what I got!)

  • Nic

    Have you/grandma received the items yet? I remembered your post while trying to figure out what happened to my Totsy order from six weeks ago when I saw my credit card was charged and yet it still lists as pending. Please tell me there is hope! After some googling yesterday I expect that I’ll never see my order based on the complaints out there, including on their Facebook page.

    • kimberly michelle

      I wanted to let you know that she DID in fact receive the clothes. No further reply came to the email, it just magically shipped off about 3 days after I wrote this email and got to her house. I hold out hope for your order as well… and I’ve since unsubscribed from their email alerts so that I’m not tempted to buy anything from them and wait! Good luck!

  • Nic

    Thank you for the update on your items, helped me chill a bit. I did not receive any reply other than a confirmation that my items were shipped the next day and arrived almost immediately. What was especially weird was the return shipping address was only a few miles from my house and does not match the company’s letterhead. Very strange company and yes, I’ll be unsubscribing as well so I’m not tempted!

  • numun

    TOTSY is the worst!!! Constantly delivers my product to the wrong address, and if delivered takes what seems a year later, and there’s NO CUSTOMER SERVICE, just e-mail. I should of check them out with BBB first too… TOTSY has an F RATING with the Better Business Bureau. I am making a complaint.